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| (Photo: Associated Press) |
On Tuesday the Boston Red Sox called up Andrew Benintendi to join them for their road trip to Seattle this week. Benintendi, a left-handed outfielder, was Boston's 7th-overall pick out of the University of Arkansas in the 2015 draft.
In 97 games across two minor league levels, Benintendi has dazzled at the plate. He his hitting .312 with 9 home runs, 70 runs, 76 RBIs, 31 doubles and 12 triples. The last time Boston called a player up straight from Double-A, Jackie Bradley Jr. went 3-for-31 in his first 12 games and was sent down to Triple-A. In 2013, however, Xander Bogaerts was called up in August as a utility player, provided a spark as he took over full-time third base duties, and helped the Red Sox win the World Series. Both of those players were All-Stars this year. While that future may be down the road, Benintendi's presence could help solidify a lineup that has used six different left fielders this year.
The trade deadline passed on Monday afternoon, and Benintendi was high on the list of many other teams, but Boston refused to consider him a piece to be traded.
"It really came down to, we looked at some possible alternatives (before the trade deadline) to help us in left field, " said Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowki. "We thought some of them were good choices, but we also thought the cost for some of those were quite high. We also weighed that versus what we thought the availability of being ready for Benintendi would be. And our people kept coming up and saying, 'We think he can play at the big league level and we think he's ready...' So it really came down to we think he can come up here and contribute to the club and help us win. And that's important at this time."
Boston is 58-46, one game behind the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead and tied with the Toronto Blue Jays, 1.5 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers in the Wild Card race.
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